Queen of the Woodland Realm
by OnceUponASunsetDream
Summary: All of Asgard knew that Loki had thrown herself from the Bifrost following the disastrous quest to Jotunheim but only a handful knew why. Thor refused to believe his sister was dead and Heimdall confirmed her survival - in another universe.


The Bifrost was a wonder known throughout the nine realms even to ignorant Midgard who were unaware of the higher powers that operated around them. To the mortals the Bifrost as a natural phenomenon that could be seen by their limited vision only at the extremes of their planet. The bridge set off a rainbow light that melted into the pinpricks of light the stars created in their slow rivers amid the blackness of the void. It created an oddly mesmerising vision that was only slightly blurred by the tears in Loki's eyes. They slid down her cheeks and landed on the bridge, shattering into hundreds of tiny rainbow shards.

Standing at the very edge of the Rainbow Bridge was strangely exhilarating. It was like flying, magic singing in her veins and the exact moment that sapphire blue crept up her arm from the icy grip of a Jotun. This brink between life and death was both the peak and the rock bottom of her entire existence.

The bridge trembled with the heavy steps of Heimdall. The watcher was approaching her from his observatory, jogging to her spot in the centre of the bridge between the observatory and the gates of Asgard. She spared him but a glance before returning her gaze to the void below. Most considered the void to be complete nothingless, a death devoid of the glory of Valhalla but then there were those who saw it as a gateway to other worlds that they hadn't previously encountered.

Personally Loki didn't believe either of these theories. She believed that the Rainbow Bridge simply spanned a portion of space akin to a bridge across a ravine. The space below the Bifrost was merely a ravine that they hadn't yet navigated however it would still fulfil the purpose she intended. She wondered what they would say about her death. Would they say that the Princess had fallen from the bridge or would they admit that the least loved of the royal family had jumped, ashamed of the truth of her birth? For it was a shameful birth. A Jotun in the house of Odin, stolen from a temple where she had been abandoned and raised amongst them as some kind of war prize unbeknownst to herself and the Aesir.

Her heart was hammering and the cool breeze that ruffled her long black hair and caused her long green skirt to swish around her legs. Sweat was cooling on her face but it didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered. Not anymore. She wasn't the daughter of Frigga and Odin. She wasn't Thor's sister, she wasn't his baby sister. Not really. Heimdall was getting closer. She could hear him calling for her, yelling her name in his deep monotonous voice. Loki ignored him, Heimdall would have known the truth from the start, known that any trips to Jotunheim could be disastrous, he knew and did nothing.

Loki took a deep breath and time seemed to stand still. In the space between heartbeats Loki stepped off the edge of the glowing rainbow bridge that had been visible from her window since she was in the cradle and soared into the endless void below. It was the best and worst moment of her life.

oOo

Loki opened her eyes. Her heart was thudding faster with every heaving breath she took. Her head was tingling and it felt as though her every hair was electrified while the tears running down her face were searing her skin. Why was she awake? She was most definitely still alive that was certain. Loki knew every afterlife and this was none of them.

She was lying in a field of long grass before a vast forest that looked simultaneously inviting and intimidating. As she pushed herself up to her knees, the split in the sides of her dress fell aside so her brown leggings and boots slid out, the green fabric of her dress pooling between her legs she vaguely realised she was sobbing, great heaving sobs that shook her right down to the core. Her hands were grasping at nothing in the air before her but finally managed to tangle in her own hair and, using that as an anchor she managed to thread her fingers through the gold woven strands and pull hard. It hurt. Loki barely noticed.

It felt as though she wasn't in her own skin, like another being had slipped inside and was controlling her movements while she watched, helpless, from the background. It took her a long time to realise that the terrible, high, piercing scream that sounded as though it was from a terribly wounded and tortured animal was being torn from her own throat.

oOo

Thor was perhaps one of the few in Asgard who believed that Princess Loki was still alive. After returning from his banishment on Midgard the news of his sister's apparent demise had hit him hard especially following the betrayal of Amora, the enchantress who had been a part of the court for centuries and who he had believed was a loyal friend. He had begged his mother, father and Heimdall all for news of her but both his parents believed that she had thrown herself from the bridge once their families deepest secret had been revealed. Heimdall however had confided in him that he believed Loki still lived. She was however blurred from his sight as though she had fallen into another world like many believed the void led to. The news had warmed his mother's heart, Thor knew but his father had frowned as though the news troubled him.

The main problem that Thor could see however was that he had no way to find his sister. Heimdall couldn't see her clearly and had no idea where she was and there was no guarantee that simply leaping from the bridge as Loki had done would lead any to her. His friendship with his new Midgardian shield brothers and sister however had offered him a new chance at finding his sister. The Man of Iron and the Son of Banner were both formidably intelligent and once they heard his plight agreed to aid him in his quest to find his sister.

It had taken five years, five very, _very_ long years but Tony Stark, Bruce Banner working together with several other brilliant scientists and magicians and Heimdall himself had managed to build a portal that would transport a number of people to the place that Heimdall was near certain that Loki had gone. The feeling of complete and utter triumph sung in Thor's veins as he stood before the portal that stood on the Bifrost site on Midgard beside his oldest and greatest friends, Sif and the Warriors Three. He was going to find his sister and at long last bring her home.

"Thank you my friends." Thor said to his Midgardian friends who stood around the portal, hands filled with strange electronic devices they were using to monitor the portal that was blossoming before their eyes. "I cannot thank you enough. Soon enough, thanks to your generous help I shall have my beloved sister once more and we will return her to our home, hale and hearty."

Tony smirked at him, a tug on his lips that was bordering on a genuine smile. "No worries Point Break. Can't have you moping all over my tower now can I?"

Thor laughed and turned to his oldest friends. "Thank you for accompanying me on this quest." they were all dressed in their armour and looked as fierce and determined as he himself felt.

"We would not abandon you on this venture." Hogan said sternly. "Loki is our princess too. She is dear to all of Asgard."

The others all nodded their agreement and Thor beamed. "Excellent! Now we go to rescue my sister from her terrible exile." they stepped forward together, as they had always done into the blue and purple spiralling abyss that was the portal contained within the huge metal circular doorway and Thor's vision whited out.

When he came to he was sprawled in the midst of a thick forest that had to be at least a millennia old. He scrambled to his feet, hammer in hand and spun in tight circles, trying to get his bearings. Sif was lying on a pile of dead leaves but there was no sign of the Warriors Three. Forcing himself not to panic, Thor pressed a finger to the device that Banner had inserted in his ear and to his great relief it beeped and Tony's voice could be heard albeit crackly and at times indistinct.

"Thor? Thor Buddy? You alright?"

"I am well." he panted, kneeling beside Sif to feel for the heartbeat in her neck. "As is Sif. We were merely knocked into unconsciousness. The Warriors Three are not with us however."

"Yeah they didn't make it through the portal. They're still with us."

"Very well." Thor replied as Sif began to stir beside him. "Sif and I shall venture on alone."

"We can keep the portal open for one week." the voice cut out for a few tense seconds before Tony's voice returned. "The voice feed will only operate near the portal and you need to bear in mind that time may travel differently in both worlds so I advise you get back ASAP. Good luck."

"Thank you, Anthony Stark. I am indebted to you." there was a faint crackle and then silence. "We are on our own." he told Sif who had managed to get groggily to her feel and scrutinise their forest surroundings.

"We shall be fine." Sif told him firmly. "We just need to seek out Loki and bring her back here." she took out her knife and scored a deep X in the trees surrounding the faint shimmering air that indicated this side of the portal. "Come. We do not have time to waste."

They walked for hours, following the midday sun and were just about to call a break when a creaking overhead made them both pause and look around closely. There was a rustling in the trees around them and it was only when they looked up that they saw the danger. There were figures perched soundlessly in the humungous trees and they were approaching swiftly. Sif made to draw her weapon but Thor stilled her hand. He secured his hammer to his belt and held his hands up to show their lack of weapon. He hoped that sign was universal.

It only seemed to take a matter of seconds before the fleet footed beings had surrounded them and had their bows poised to fire at any false move. They were all tall and slim and incredibly fair. They each had long braided hair and pointed ears protruding from them and it was obvious that they were some kind of elf but they were not any kind that either Thor or Sif had ever seen. The leader of the party stepped forward, bow slung across his chest but two long hunting knives sat easily in his hands as he moved, long sinewy movements that seemed to be constant for all elves. He spoke in a sharp voice but neither Sif nor Thor could understand him.

"I apologise for intruding on your lands." Thor said carefully, valiantly trying to recall all the lessons on courtesy he had ever been taught. "Myself and my companion are simply looking for my sister."

The leader froze, staring at him curiously, a bird-like tilt to his head. It was clear that neither of them understood the other's language…but did this elf recognise his words? The elf glanced around at his fellows several of whom nodded almost imperceptivity before they turned back to Thor and gestured for them to follow. Thor stepped after him cautiously, feeling Sif treading carefully behind him. Being surrounded by these beautiful ethereal creatures was eerie and creepy and oddly reminded him of Loki when she was striding through the halls of Asgard, long dress framing her lithe frame and long hair floating behind her. He was reminded of Loki at her most graceful.

The elves refused to respond to any more of his questioning but he did notice that there was a ripple through them when he mentioned Loki's name. Sif noticed it too if the hand gipping his arm was any indication but neither of them said anything. They were led through the forest in complete silence, the only noise being the thudding of Thor and Sif's boots on the ground, the elves seemed to make no noise at all. Thor was surprised they hadn't unarmed or even bound them. This was the elves forest after all and they were trespassing here. The elves had every right to strip them of their weapons and vision and lead them blindly.

Apparently Sif was thinking the same thing as Thor. "Why haven't they taken our weapons?" she hissed. "Why aren't we being treated as trespassers? We _are_ trespassing."

Thor shook his head. "I do not know. Do you think they...may know of Loki?" Sif just shrugged, scowling at the elf who prodded her sharply in the back with a knife.

By the time they reached the tall gates both Thor and Sif were tired and aching neither of which seemed to have affected the elves that were escorting them. The gates were opened after the guards spoke with the leader of their party and Thor and Sif were let through the huge gates with nought but an odd look. This behaviour was incredibly strange and not half off-putting but neither Thor nor Sif had the inclination to cause a fuss once they entered the gates.

It seemed as though the entire kingdom had been sequestered into the caves of the ground that were so ancient that gigantic trees had been allowed to grow from their depths and then so high that their canopy was barely visible except as a dark mass that flickered with sunlight as the trees moved in the wind. Sunlight entered the canopy and shone down onto their party where they walked over high paths that, upon further inspection, proved to be lower branches of the trees merging seamlessly with rock.

Thor and Sif were led through the strange kingdom to what appeared to be the centre and the equivalent of a throne room. The path narrowed for the space of a short flight of stairs and then opened up into a wide almost circular space which held little except a narrow set of stairs leading to a tall and impressive wooden throne that was winged with two huge moose antlers. It was even more impressive that Odin's throne room, Thor had to admit as much as it galled him. It wasn't as opulent as his father's but the throne room of this Elven King was far more impressive and intimidating in the sheer dominating qualities of nature.

Thor and Sif were pushed before the throne and the King who sat upon the throne stared down at them with intelligent and impassive blue eyes. The elf had long hair that was so blonde it almost looked like liquid moonlight. It hung long over his shoulders and his crown encircled his head from temple to temple. It was, like his throne, demonstrating the power of nature, long twigs poking up over his head and garlanded with small white flowers that looked somewhat like poisonous ones on Asgard. He wore long dark red robes over leggings and a tunic and his legs were crossed as he reclined lazily in his seat.

The lead elf bowed swiftly and spoke quickly to the King in their strange liquid language and something said must have piqued his interest because he sat up from his reclining pose and fixed Thor and Sif with a piercing gaze. He replied to the guard and his voice was smooth and musical and regal. He waved a hand and all the guards seemed to vanish after one more short command. Thor opened his mouth to speak but a single look from the King had his mouth shutting with a sharp click.

"Thor Odinson. I am Thranduil, King of the Woodland Realm." The King said languidly settling back into his throne and it was then that Thor noticed the second slightly smaller throne that was situated beside the King's it didn't have moose antlers but rather long curving deer antlers that stood straight up from the chair instead of out to the side like the King's. Was that the seat of his Queen?

"You know me?" Thor asked, surprised.

"Not personally." Thranduil replied. "I do however know of you. A great deal in fact."

Sif stepped forward and it was so, so close to threatening. Thor hastily pulled her back before she could move too far and the King smiled nastily. "How do you know our language?" Sif demanded.

An elegant dark eyebrow rose slowly and Sif stepped back a few steps, head sinking slightly. "It was taught to me by one who left your world for ours long ago."

"Loki." Thor gasped, throwing caution to the wind and moving forward until he was right at the base of the stairs leading to the two thrones. "Please, Your Majesty, do you know my sister? Is she well? Is she safe?"

"Yes." Thranduil replied with a smirk quirking his thin lips. "The Lady Loki is well known to me."

Thor sagged in relief but before he could continue speaking footsteps behind him made him turn. Another elf was approaching, tall and elegant as the rest of their kind, his face was clearly Thranduil's but he had long black hair braided back from his face and woven around a crown similar to but a lot less elaborate then Thranduil's own. He was young but definitely in adulthood and his sharp blue eyes glanced over the guests but otherwise ignored them, striding past to bow at the foot of the throne and then venture up when the King beckoned. They spoke softly in their elven tongue but switched to what Thor assumed must be the Alltongue that Loki taught them.

"This is Calithilon, my eldest son. Ion nin, this is Thor Odinson and the Lady Sif." the words seemed to hold a hidden power for the younger elf stared at them with something akin to astonishment on his face before he turned back to his father who nodded slightly. "Fetch your Naneth, ion. She will want to greet our visitors."

The prince nodded, looking only slightly distracted. "Yes Adar." he turned and strode back past Thor and Sif and there was something familiar about that hair…

"King Thranduil, my sister, please." Thor said, trying not to beg but he knew his voice was beginning to take on a pleading tone. "She is very dear to me and I haven't seen her in many years, please is she alright?"

"She is quite alright." Thranduil assured him softly and he rose steadily from his throne but didn't descend the stairs. He just stood watching them until they both gave in and fidgeted uncomfortably. It was a tactic he was familiar with from several royal courts but this was different. Thranduil's eyes were like shards of ice, boring into their souls, digging out their secrets and their every thought. The spell wasn't broken until the faintest sounds of footsteps were heard and Thranduil swiftly descended the stairs, sweeping past them to greet what appeared to be his family. The boy, Calithilon was leading another young elf, almost his twin in appearance yet his hair was far lighter, a pale brown and his green eyes were warmer than his father or brother's. Thranduil's queen was tall and fair, her dark hair was mostly unbound bar a few long braids which hung loosely in her tresses bound with golden threads. She wore a green dress in the gossamer fabrics the elves seemed to favour and she had an infant on her hip whose hair was as pale as his father's.

The Queen paused when she caught sight of Thor and Sif but glided past them to greet her King. Thor was speechless. There was no way this was possible, there was _no possible_ way. The Queen stroked her hand down Thranduil's cheek and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips. Thranduil in turn, enfolded her in his arms and the child between them stared at Thor over his mother's shoulder and sucked absently on a braided lock of her hair.

"Loki?" Sif asked when it became apparent that Thor had been rendered speechless. "Loki is that you, Princess?"

Loki bristled and turned, pulling away from Thranduil and it was definitely Loki, no one else could fix Thor with so poisonous a glare. "Queen." she corrected imperiously. "I am the Queen of this realm."

"My apologies." Sif muttered and Loki sneered as though she doubted it.

"Loki." Thor breathed. "Sister, I have been searching for you, I worried and I feared for you." he moved forward, hands outstretched but Loki pulled away from him.

"You should have saved your strength." she said softly. "I had no desire to be found." she turned back to her husband and they spoke again in that strange fluid language. When Loki turned back to them she fixed them with a hard stare while gently tugging her hair from the child's mouth. "Come. I shall show you to a room where you can rest." she beckoned vaguely and slid her free hand into the arm of the middle child who led them away, glancing back at his father and elder brother only once before Loki spoke to him softly in their language. They spoke quietly, the infant on his sister's hip babbling softly to himself and playing with his mother's hair once more.

The rooms they were given were large and pleasant, warm sunlight filtering through the windows and a fire crackling in a circular pit in the centre of the room. Loki sat on a long cushioned bench and placed the child down on the floor. He sat at his mother's feet but didn't venture away from her, suddenly shy at Thor and Sif's presence. Loki smiled fondly down at the boy who had her skirt fisted in his tiny hands as Thor sat heavily on a similarly padded seat opposite his sister, the seat he had wanted to take beside her suddenly occupied by the other boy whose chestnut hair fell around him like a curtain.

"How long have you been here?" Sif asked eventually looking from Loki to the two elves who seemed content to let Loki do the talking. Loki eyed them suspiciously but still answered.

"Several thousand years I believe." she answered nonchalantly. "How long has it been for you?" she asked while they gaped.

"A mere five years." Thor breathed. "Are these your children?"

She nodded looking rather proud of herself. "Yes. You met Calithilon my eldest and this is Thínor." she stroked a hand over the older boy's light hair. "My evening star." she smirked as Thínor blushed to the tips of his pointed ears.

"Nana." he protested softly.

"Oh hush, darling. Your Nana likes to tease."

"I know." he muttered sullenly.

Loki laughed and leaned down to kiss the infant's head when he pulled himself up on wobbly legs using her skirt to balance. "And this is my little green leaf, my Legolas." the boy grinned as his mother spoke his name and Thor couldn't help smiling back. "Boys this is your Uncle Thor."

"And the Lady Sif." Thor added when Loki made no move to introduce her. Loki and Sif had never really seen eye to eye but they had been nothing but civil in his presence before. "Mother has missed you greatly."

Loki looked pained. "I regret causing her undue grief but I do not regret remaining here."

"Do you mean to say you could have returned?" Sif demanded, leaping angrily to her feet.

Thínor shifted slightly beside Loki as though ready to go to her defence and Loki called up a ball of green flame in her palm as a warning. Thor pulled Sif back down but fixed his sister with a steely look. "Sister? Is this true? Did you have a way of returning to us?"

Loki didn't look ashamed as she nodded, in fact she looked rather smug banishing the fire with a flick of her wrist. "Yes. It is true. I discovered the way back to your universe shortly after Calithilon's birth. By that time I had been here for hundreds of years, I was married to my husband and I had my first suckling babe. I found a happiness here that I never had with you. I will not return with you Thor."

Thor's face fell. "But sister, surely you wish to return home? Home to mother and father and Asgard? The people miss their princess!"

Loki barked a harsh laugh. "I doubt that very much. It was little secret you were the favourite and that I was the strange princess who wielded sedir like a weapon and spoke with a silver tongue. Odin is not my father, I'm sure he had told you by now. My true parents were robbed of me when Odin stole me from my homeland and he never claimed to love me. As to returning home, I _am_ home. I feel more at home in the Greenwood than I ever did in Asgard and I have a family here, Thor and the people here love their queen far more than the Aesir loved their princess." She leaned forward, green eyes hard and serious. "Would you ask me to leave those whom I love and who love me unconditionally?" Thor looked conflicted still and Loki sighed irritably as his blue eyes flicked from her to Thínor who looked fearful at the thought of his mother's departure.

"I just want my sister back." he said helplessly, blinking away tears.

"I would be leaving in any case." she reminded him harshly. "Do you really believe Odin would have waited much longer to have me married off to a suitable husband?" Thor frowned but didn't argue. "Here I have a husband whom I chose, beautiful children that I bore him and a life where I am happy at long last. Would you take that from me?"

Thor was staring down at his hands, trying furiously not to let the tears breech the barrier of his lashes and didn't answer. Loki scooped Legolas from the floor and tucked him back into her arms before standing, Thínor surging to his feel beside her looking relieved. "Wash and rest." Loki instructed. "You shall join us for the evening meal. Someone will be sent to fetch you." with that Loki strode from the room, dress fluttering behind her and second son walking briskly at her side.

oOo

Sif and Thor made themselves presentable in silence and then sat by the fire, gazing into its depths while they waited for their escort. "What should I do, Sif?" Thor croaked, eyes slightly red and face desolate. "Should I allow her to stay here in this, this forest?"

Sif sniffed irritably and tossed her head sharply. "I do not think you should be _allowing_ her to do anything. She is your sister not your possession." Thor nodded guiltily. "I have never seen Loki so happy." Sif continued in a softer voice. "She loves that elf and their children. If you take her from them I believe that Loki will slaughter you."

"I miss her." Thor whispered brokenly. "She is my little sister and I failed her."

"She is not your sister." Sif said not unkindly. "Not anymore. She is not Loki Odindottir nor is she Loki Laufeydottir. She is Loki Queen of this realm. She is Loki, wife to Thranduil and she is Loki, mother to Calithilon, Thínor and Legolas." Sif's eyes were hard but kind as she lay a hand on Thor's thick arm. "Loki belongs here more than she ever did in our own universe. She will not come home with us and I for one will not make her." The ' _and nor will you'_ was an unspoken.

"Do you think I should be allowed to visit?" Thor breathed into the silence.

Sif shrugged. "I do not know. Loki may be privy to allowing you visitation however time travels differently between our worlds. A mere five years in our home was a thousand times that here. Her life will change greatly in the time it takes for us to blink. It may perhaps be kinder to part ways with naught but fond memories."

Thor nodded and they lapsed once more into silence. "Naneth spoke of you often." Calithilon said when Thor opened to door to reveal his nephew as their guide.

"I imagine it was colourful." Sif said wryly as Thor bristled.

Calithilon shrugged, a small smile on his face. "She often told me you were a fool."

Thor couldn't make himself find offence. It was a truly Loki thing to do, tell her children of the idiocy of their uncle. "Is your mother, your-your _Naneth_ …is she happy here?"

Calithilon turned to look at him, his father's eyes softer in his younger face and when he smiled it was Loki looking back at him. "Yes. She is happy here." he darted elegantly up a flight of stairs, the grace of the movement leaving Thor feeling particularly graceless. "Adar says she was…damaged when she first arrived here but she was certainly recovered and happy by the time that they married."

"Damaged?" Thor asked, shocked. "Damaged how?"

Calithilon shook his head slowly, his dark hair shifting down his back. "That is not for me to say. You shall have to ask her yourself."

They entered a small hall that was apparently the royal family's personal dining room. It held a long table but only one end had places set. Thranduil had removed his crown and he sat at the head of the table with the infant Legolas on his lap, the elfling playing with his father's long hair, spellbound. Loki sat to her husband's left, their hands entwined on the tabletop and they spoke softly in their elven language while Thínor sat to Loki's other side a book open in his lap.

Loki and Thranduil looked up when the doors opened and while Loki smiled and greeted their eldest son, Thranduil stared at Thor and Sif with unforgiving eyes, readjusting his hand within Loki's in a no doubt deliberate move to draw the eye. Calithilon took his seat at his father's right hand and Thor and Sif sat together at the Crown Prince's side. "That is a familiar sight." Thor said nodding to Thínor who sat opposite him. "You would read at the table too, sister."

Loki smiled slightly, smoothing a hand over Thínor's hair and gently plucking the book from his hands, slipping a leaf between the pages and handing it to a nearby servant who took it with a small tinkling laugh. "But see, I encourage my children's desire to learn rather than taunting them." Thor's smile dropped suddenly. "Thínor does not have his father taking his books so he may do something he detests nor do his brothers take his books and use them for kindling."

Thor and Sif both looked down at their silver plates, feeling ashamed at how they had treated Loki as children. "Apologies." Thor murmured but Loki waved it away with a more genuine smile than any previously bestowed upon him.

"It matters not." she plucked Legolas from Thranduil's lap and placed him carefully into a chair between hers and her husband's that was taller so that the child would be at the same height as themselves. There was already a filled plate on the small table which served to hold the baby in place. Legolas immediately began to eat but everyone else waited before Thranduil reached for some fruit to place upon his plate to begin eating their own food.

It was a pleasant meal all in all. Thor made idle conversation with his sister and brother-in-law and his nephews while Sif remained, for the most part, silent, only speaking if first prompted. By the time it was over Thor was convinced of his sister's happiness in this realm. Thranduil looked at his sister the way that Volstagg looked at his wife, as though she hung the stars and moon and even their beauty had no compare to her. He did not doubt that this Elvenking loved Loki with all his heart and Loki had told him plainly that she loved the man she married. Their children were beautiful and intelligent and loved. After the meal, Legolas and Thínor were sent away with a nanny after bidding their parents, uncle and Sif a goodnight despite Thínor's clear irritation at being treated like a child. Thranduil watched his wife carefully for several long moments before he nodded to her and kissed her sweetly on the mouth with a few more murmured elven words. At his mother's indication Calithilon followed after his father but not before he allowed Loki to kiss his forehead and adjust his long dark hair, the exact copy of her own.

Loki stood from the table, regal and elegant as ever and taking his cue, Thor stood also and offered his arm to his sister who took it was a small smirk, a large contrast to the last time Thor had offered his arm when Loki had snarled and slashed at the offending arm with a dagger. They walked together through the beautiful kingdom with Sif following at a respectable distance and under no illusion who was really leading who.

"Thank you for your loyalty, Thor. I could never ask for a more loving brother."

Thor nudged his sister playfully, relishing the very familiar scowl he received in return. "I love you, my sister, I want nothing but your happiness. I had to see that you were well."

"And have you?"

Thor frowned, looking down at Loki's dark head, the golden braids sparkling amid the ebony mass. "Yes." he admitted softly. "You are very happy here. I did not want to see it but you are far happier here than you were in Asgard."

She nodded, smiling up at him and he again marvelled at the difference between them. The sun prince and the princess of the moon they were often called. Loki had always been pale, made even more so by her long black hair but Thor had never noticed how close to sickly she had been before now when there was a healthy flush in her cheeks and her green eyes sparkled with a happiness that had only been rare in their youth. This place had been good to her like Asgard had never been.

It took Thor too long to realise that Loki was leading them back toward the entrance of the kingdom. "Are you asking us to leave, Loki?" he asked pointedly.

She smirked at him with hard eyes. "Yes." she said bluntly. "I realise you agree that it I am happy and safe here but I would like you to leave please. You, unlike me do not belong here and if five thousand years have passed in the time for a simple five to pass for you then you do not have time to waste. How long in your universe would have lapsed in the hours you spent here?"

That thought had not occurred to Thor but must have crossed Sif's mind for when he twisted to look at her she looked unsurprised and her jaw was clenched tightly. "I can send you home." Loki promised him. She paused looking conflicted before she spoke again. "I can also set up another portal for you to use but it will only work once. Just the one trip back here and then back to your world. A. Single. Round. Trip. That is all."

Thor nodded but Sif was the one who questioned it. "Why? I thought you were happy here."

Loki rolled her eyes and for a moment Thor thought she wouldn't deign to answer. "I am happy here. I can scarcely believe how happy I am here. No, for Mother. I know Mother will not let this lie and it is dangerous to traverse the universe unprepared. Also if it takes you another five thousand years to make the connection, assuming it is the right one could prove catastrophic. I need to talk to her…and maybe Odin. I need the closure."

Thor nodded his agreement, reluctant as it was as they reached the gates. Loki stepped forward to speak with the guards, the strange fluid language slipping easily from her tongue. The guard smiled at her and nodded, bowing elegantly and the respect on his face as he looked at his queen was absolute. Thor could see now what Loki had meant when she said that the people of this kingdom loved her while his own people scorned her behind their hands.

The trio walked through the woods and it seemed to take no time at all for them to reach the place where Sif had marked a circle of trees. The shimmering curtain of magic was gone now but Loki reopened it with a wave of green sparks and several softly spoken words in an oddly guttural voice. "How did you know how to find this place?" Sif asked and even to Thor she sounded suspicious.

"I have been in this forest for centuries." Loki said calmly, giving no sign she had sensed the other woman's misgivings. "The elves here can understand nature to an amazing degree. They taught me long ago. The trees were in pain from where you slashed them." Loki lay a gentle hand on the trunk of the closest tree and the x that was seeping amber sap closed steadily.

Loki turned back to Thor and smiled beautifully at him. "Goodbye Thor." she said and she didn't sound sombre. "I imagine it will be many years before I see you again."

Thor surged forward to pull her into his arms hugging her tightly against him and trying to memorise the feel of her in his arms, the scent of his sister that had changed dramatically over the years. "I shall move as swiftly as possible." He promised. "I shall not abandon you again." Loki just smiled and stepped back, waving regally at the portal. Sif stepped forward first and she and Loki nodded curtly to each other. Neither would miss the other. Once she had gone, Loki took Thor's arm before he could follow.

"Only you and Sif could enter the portal because it was degenerating on my end." she explained hurriedly. "I estimate that by the time a month of your time has passed the same will begin to happen once more. I have strengthened it but do not try for any more than four or five people."

Thor nodded his understanding and Loki released him. "Goodbye." they said together and Thor's last look at his baby sister before the swirling colours of the portal took him once more was of her standing in a copse of trees under the light of the stars, clad in a green dress that made her seem altogether otherworldly and looking every inch the queen she was born to be.

oOo

When Thor returned it was to discover that almost a year of his own time had passed and Sif and himself, in the minutes separating their entry into the portal had re-emerged weeks apart. The dramatic change in time drove Thor to fulfil his sister's wish as soon as possible, the concept of his own mortality and that of those around him never having hit him so hard before.

The first thing he had done was race back to Asgard and search out his parents. The throne room had cleared with a wave of Odin's hand leaving the King, Queen and Prince alone in the throne room. The action reminded Thor of Thranduil but on the Elvenking the action seemed regal and elegant and natural but it made Thor uncomfortable to note that in comparison it was awkward and forced.

"I found Loki." Thor stated once the guards had left the room, not bothering with niceties. "I found her! She is alive and she is very well."

Frigga gasped, hand flying to her throat as she almost ran forward to seize Thor's arms in an oddly strong grip. "Loki." Se breathed. "How is she? Where is she? Tell me about my daughter!"

Thor smiled and lay his hands comfortingly over his mother's. "She is in a realm they call Middle Earth. There is no Asgard and there are no gods like we know. She resides in an Elven kingdom with the elves of the forest."

Frigga smiled. "She would like that I think. Tell me more." she pleaded and Odin began to slowly descend the stairs from his throne.

"She is their Queen." he revealed softly. "She has been in Middle Earth for five thousand years." Frigga looked pained but the impassive expression on Odin's worried him. "She and the king, Thranduil married and they have three sons. They are Calithilon, Thínor and Legolas and each is beautiful and wonderful. Loki is…Loki is truly happy there. I have never, in all her life seen her so happy."

Frigga nodded. "I am glad, my son. I am glad that Loki was able to find happiness even if I despair that I could not give that to my daughter."

"Loki was not to be a Queen." Odin said sternly from where he stood still several stairs above them, making himself seem even more important, dominating the scene. Thor refused to be cowed, the memory of his brother-in-law's own throne room still fresh in his mind. He thought that perhaps he may prefer the kingdom of the Greenwood to the palace in which he was raised. The golden halls and opulent carvings and elaborate finery seemed to be far too overstated now that he had seen what a truly intimidating throne room looked like.

"Why not?" Thor demanded. "Because she is a frost giant? Because she is my younger sister? Because you thought she was incapable or a failure?" Odin didn't answer but the look Frigga shot her husband should, by rights, left the man a bloody spot on the marble floor. "Loki is a good Queen to the elves of Greenwood. She loves them and they love her. She has surpassed all our expectations."

Frigga smiled happily and held his hand in hers, squeezing comfortingly. "I am glad. I am very glad. I have only wished she would find happiness and it seems as though she has at last."

Thor nodded. "She is. She asked to see you." he admitted. "She opened a portal designed to last a month of our time at best. She said she wants to get her closure as our times run so far apart it is unlikely she will want to see us again."

Frigga nodded instantly, face lighting up with excitement and what looked somewhat like remorse. "Yes. Yes when can we leave? The sooner the better." His mother kissed him on the cheek and then strode from the room muttering to herself. Once the doors closed behind her, Thor could hear her voice rising as she called to servants. Thor smiled at her enthusiasm and turned to his father, feeling his face fall into a confused frown.

"Father? Are you going to join Mother and I when we visit Loki? I believe she would like to speak with you."

Odin sneered slightly. "No." he snapped. "Loki is dead to me. She has been since she leapt from the Bifrost. No daughter of mine, adopted or no, will be disgracing our family like this."

"She is your daughter!" Thor protested shocked. "You raised her! She needed more guidance than me and more assurances and you and mother gave that to her. You cared for her and loved her as your own and one event at the very lowest point of her life will define her for you?"

Odin stared at him blankly before he shook his head and turned and strode back up to his throne. "I have a kingdom to care for." he said impassively as though Thor's tirade was inconsequential. "Your mother can tell me when she returns."

Thor stared after him, fury pounding in his veins but didn't argue, turning sharply on his heel and stalking from the room.

oOo

Frigga was ready to leave early several days later. She waited impatiently for Thor at the end of the Bifrost in her travelling skirts with a leather satchel strung across her body. Her hair was tied back and she gestured for him to hurry up, both of them ignoring the amused face of Heimdall. To his great surprise Odin was also standing beside Frigga with an air of great reluctance. It was clear that he was only there because his wife had explicitly demanded it. None of them exchanged a word in the time it took for them to venture down to Midgard and then reach the portal site. The large circular gateway that the mortals had built was still there, the strange veil fluttering through swirling colours in the connection Loki had re-established.

As they stepped through the portal Thor had to wonder how many years would have elapsed in the days they had spent on their side of the portal. Would Loki still be there? What if something happened to her or her family? Frigga looked just as anxious as himself but Odin only looked wary as he gazed around at their woodland surroundings. He had good reason to be wary Thor believed as he looked around. The woods were darker than they had been on his last trip. Darker and more menacing. A slight fog hung over the forest and it sent a cold chill down Thor's spine and made him clutch the handle of Mjolnir tighter in his hand.

"Come." Thor murmured to his parents. "It is this way." They were not approached by an elven hunting party this time but had to navigate the far more treacherous wood on their own. It seemed to take an age before Thor spotted the tall gates of the elven kingdom but once he did his steps hurried and he guided his parents to the gates of their adopted daughter's new home. "This is the kingdom of the Greenwood." Thor explained as they neared.

"Mirkwood." A new voice corrected and Thor spun around to see a tall elf emerge from the woods on the other side of the path leading to the gates. He was tall and pale with bright blue eyes and long dark hair, braided away from his face. A bow and quiver was slung across his back and a sword strapped to his side. "This forest is now called Mirkwood by the inhabitants."

"How can you understand us?" Odin demanded. "You said that they didn't speak the Alltongue." he added to Thor.

The elf bristled angrily, eyes snapping to Thor and he saw a spark of recognition in those icy eyes. "Calithilon?" Thor asked and the elf's mouth quirked up at the corners.

"Uncle." he replied. "It has been many years."

"You have changed." Thor observed dimly. His nephew now had a long ropy scar marring the length of the left side of his face. It began just below his hairline and vanished into his collar. His hair was longer and braided differently, tighter which made him seem sterner, throwing his injury into sharp relief.

"It has been many _long_ years." Calithilon amended. He turned to Odin and Frigga who were eyeing him with new curiosity now that his identity had been clarified. "Grandmother. Allfather." he said with a slight incline of the head. The lack of more prominent respect made Odin bristle but Calithilon ignored him. "I shall take you to Naneth." he said as he strode towards the gates which opened slowly. He nodded to the guards who bowed in turn and one approached him to speak softly to him. Calithilon frowned looking disturbed and replied rapidly. The guard nodded and stepped closer to the Asgardians along with Calithilon. "This is Aeilard." he said. "He shall take you to see Naneth. There is something I need to attend to. I shall join you later." with that he nodded shortly to them all and strode into the caves, vanishing quickly into the trees.

The guard spoke to them in Elvish but soon realised they couldn't understand so he merely turned and gestured for them to follow him. "Was it like this when you were here before?" Frigga asked. "The forest?" she gestured to the trees around them that like those outside seemed darked and meaner as though they had had to change to suit their new circumstances.

Thor shook his head. "No. It was brighter. Happier. It was the Greenwood not the Mirkwood."

The walk to the throne room, like the walk to the gates, seemed longer, darker filled with more deadly silence that grated on his nerves. Frigga gasped when their first sight of the two elevated thrones came into view. Thranduil was not in his moose antlered seat but Loki was seated comfortably in her own throne. She again wore a green dress and she had a brown silk robe slung over the seat but the Queen always reflected her realm. Loki had a bronze breastplate on over her dress and Thor could see a bow and a quiver of arrows hanging from a tree not far from the throne. Her dark hair was wound into a long, gold-entwined braid that hung over her shoulder, pooling beside her on her throne. She held a thick book in her lap and was pouring over it with a feather quill.

Loki looked up when the guard spoke, bowing low to her, the utmost respect and dedication in his every move. She froze when she saw who was there but beckoned the elf closer which he did, kneeling on the steps below her. She smiled slightly at him and pulled a loose slip of paper from her book, writing a quick message onto the paper and handed it to the elf who seized it in his hands and bowed once more before striding past Thor and his parents.

Loki sank back into her throne and watched as the last remnants of her youth approached her. She was however, no longer the child that her parents remembered. She was not the insecure girl who hid behind her chaos and her lies and her mischief. She had forged a life here, one that she wouldn't leave for all the stars in every cosmos. Frigga let out a broken sob, a smile forming on her face but it was Odin who strode forward towards the throne. The guards all moved as though they were one and ten sharp spears were pointed in Odin's face, their owners all blank faced and emotionless in his presence.

Loki didn't move for several long seconds but then she stood and waved her hand slightly and the spears all vanished but the guards remained surrounding the base of the throne, barring any approach. "Thor." she said, descending towards them in long fluid movements which only seemed more graceful than the last time he had seem her.

"Loki." he replied with a grin and finally Loki smiled. She spoke to the guards who didn't move for several seconds but then moved aside, their reluctance to leave their Queen clear. "It is good to see you again, little sister." he moved past his father and pulled Loki into a hug, palming the back of her head and pressing their cheeks together as he buried his face in her neck. She squirmed irritably but didn't push him away which he considered a good sign.

"I believe I am older now, Thor." she said as he pulled away but he shrugged.

"You shall always be my little sister." he told her firmly and relished the small smile he received in return. "How-how long have I been gone here?" he asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

Loki gave him a small smile that did nothing to comfort him. "Almost five hundred years."

Frigga gave another little sob and pushed Thor out of the way and gazed at her only daughter, tears trickling down her cheeks. Her hands shook as they reached up to cradle Loki's face. She ran her fingers up to Loki's hairline and then down to rest on the other woman's shoulders. Frigga played absently with the thick braid of Loki's hair which now fell to her hips. "Oh my baby." Frigga murmured and pulled Loki into a tight hug, pressing them together and holding on as though she expected Loki to be torn forcibly from her arms. "Loki darling, I am so, so sorry. I wasn't there for you and I didn't see you hurting…"

"Naneth-Mother. It is fine, it is not your fault."

"It is!" Frigga cried. "I abandoned you when you needed me most!"

Loki shook her head. "I always knew I could come to you." she said softly. "I just didn't want to speak to anyone. It no longer matters now." she waved a hand as though brushing aside the issues that hung between them. "I am happy here. This is where I belong. I only wished to say goodbye to you and to perhaps introduce you to your grandsons."

"We met Calithilon outside." Odin offered, staring at Loki as though she were a particularly interesting puzzle.

"Yes he was hunting." Loki said. "He was to be sent to Thranduil upon his return."

"Yes." Odin continued, voice growing more confident and beginning to border on arrogant as he got a hold of their surroundings. "Where is your mysterious husband? Is he to grace us with his presence?"

Loki bristled, face turning impassive where it once would have darkened with anger and led to tantrums, loud or silent. "He is." Thranduil said smoothly and they turned to see him walking steadily towards them, looking more like he were gliding and serving to make their own movements seem clumsy in comparison. He ignored all their presence in favour of Loki, taking her hand and pressing it to his lips. They spoke softly in Elvish, the fluid tongue seeming more natural on Loki's tongue than the language she spoke with her old family.

Loki nodded and slid her arm into her husband's, the action so natural it was almost unnerving. They walked away obviously expecting them to follow which they did, shadowed by the retinue of guards that had most certainly not been present the last time Thor had visited. Thranduil looked almost the same, the long years between visits barely having any alteration on his person. His long pale hair rippled unbound down his back, nearly as long as his wife's and the crown he wore was smaller yet no less impressive, brittle looking wood twisted and woven into a formation that should have been impossible and still bearing the small red berries of a tree that should, by no rights still be able to grow.

Loki and Thranduil spoke softly together as they walked, the book Loki had retrieved from her throne referenced several times and the Asgardians thoroughly ignored. The room they were led to was not one Thor recognised from his previous trip but it was just as private. There was a large circular table in the centre of the room that was covered in scrolls, papers and what appeared to be a large map weighed down by heavy rocks.

There were three elves sat around the table, heads bowed together over several thick scrolls. The elves looked up when they entered and Thor easily recognised Thínor, older and paler looking almost ill from where he sat at the table. He smiled slightly when he saw who was there but didn't stand like the red haired elf to his left did. The red haired female elf bowed shortly to the King and Queen and spoke quietly but left when she was clearly dismissed. The blonde elf beside Thínor stood and bowed his head, taking the offered book from Loki's hands when she offered it and laying it on the table before Thínor.

"Penneth do you know who our guests are?" she asked kindly, idly straightening one of the elf's braids and brushing her fingers softly down his cheek.

The elf stared over her shoulder and past Thranduil who was moving to sit beside Thínor at the table to the Asgardians who were watching the exchange curiously. His hair was as pale as the King's and his eyes were a strange colour that looked nearly green until he moved and his eyes changed in the light, icy blue and then pale violet. "Legolas?" Thor asked incredulously, finally recognising the look of contemplation on the elven face that was so incredibly Loki.

"Uncle?" Legolas asked looking shocked. "I believe I remember you a little."

"You were naught but a babe when we last met."

Loki laughed. "He has grown, our little Green Leaf." Legolas flushed and Thínor chuckled, batting at his father's hands which seemed to be testing his temperature and pulse. "Ion nin, this is your grandmother and grandfather." Loki seemed to pause before she introduced Odin but her expression didn't falter.

"Well met." Legolas greeted with a wide earnest smile and bowed slightly to them gasping when Thor pulled him up into a tight hug.

"It pleases me to see you grown, nephew!" Legolas chocked uncomfortably and fled back to the table when Thor released him. Thranduil patted his arm comfortingly but was unable to fully supress the smirk on his face.

Calithilon suddenly appeared, removing himself from the shadows he had been standing motionlessly in and pulled a chair out for Frigga who took it with a gracious smile. Calithilon pulled the chair between Frigga and Legolas out and Loki smiled at him as she took it, stroking a hand lovingly down his scarred face before he sat himself on Thínor's other side, leaving one seat open for Odin who took it very reluctantly.

"It is good to finally meet you." Thranduil told Frigga with a small rare smile. "I have heard much about you from my wife."

Frigga beamed at him and glanced approvingly at Loki. "And I am glad that she met you. Will you tell us how you met?" she looked from one to the other and their sons all looked up, interested in the story they had never heard.

Loki and Thranduil stared at each other for several long seconds before Loki slowly nodded. "Yes." She allowed eventually. "I suppose you know I threw myself from the Bifrost after the events on Jotunheim and then in the treasury." she glanced at Odin who looked away from her vivid green eyes. She ignored the pained looks from Frigga and Thor and continued, Thranduil taking her hand on top of the table. "I landed just outside the forest and…well…I don't really remember what happened between then and when I woke up in the infirmary with Prince Thranduil sitting beside me and neither of us unable to understand a word the other spoke."

Legolas's mouth twitched in vague amusement at the thought of the confusion generated between his parents, unable to communicate but by angry gestures and interpretation as both their formidable tempers erupted in frustration. "I was on a patrol with three other elves when we found her." Thranduil continued the story somewhat reluctantly, laying his other hand over Loki's slimmer one held in his grip. "There was little chance of danger so the parties were smaller and we were on perimeter. It wasn't hard to find her. Not really."

Odin snorted contemptuously. "How? This forest is huge and she was who knows where on the outer fringes of it?"

Thranduil stared blankly at his father in law, the expression unnerving at it was clear Loki had picked it up from him. "She was screaming." he replied lowly. "She screamed for hours and did not register our presence. She only ceased to scream when her voice failed her and our healers sedated her."

Frigga clasped one hand over her heart and the other raised to stroke over Loki's arm. "Oh my darling." she breathed. Loki shook her head and shrugged off the woman's arm.

"Do not concern yourself." she said softly. "I recovered soon enough. I made a life here, a happy life and I wanted you to see it so that I could give myself and you some closure."

"Are you at war?" Thor asked suddenly, staring down at the papers on the table. He couldn't read the runes on the scrolls but he understood the general gist of the diagrams and the small models on the map. "Is that why the woods are no longer peaceful?"

Thranduil shook his head, letting Loki's hand go so he could readjust the model spider and pull a sheaf of paper towards himself. Upon closer inspection it seemed as though the papers were actually large leaves, treated to be used as paper. "Not yet. It seems…inevitable though." he admitted. "The dwarves unearthed something that they shouldn't in their mountain-"

"Again." Loki sighed irritably and Thranduil nodded in agreement.

"Again and the King Under the Mountain refuses to listen to reason. A darkness is growing that no one but ourselves seem to be feeling and addressing. Our forests have been under attack for some time now."

"Attack? Are those dwarves attacking you?"

"Spiders." Thínor said softly. "We have been attacked by spiders larger than horses and whose venom paralyses and creates severe illness."

"Giant spiders." Odin repeated disbelievingly.

"They continue to thrive no matter how often we remove their nests." Calithilon muttered, scribbling down a note which he added to the book Loki had brought. "We have not yet discovered the source of their main nest."

"How does this prelude to war?" Frigga asked softly exchanging a look with her husband.

Thranduil frowned, drumming is fingers on the table. "Before the last war against the Enemy it is said that great beasts roamed wild." he glanced at his eldest son who looked away with a frown. "Let's hope that this time the signs are wrong." The King sat straighter in his seat and pulled the papers into neat piles in the centre of the table. "This is not the purpose of your visit and time is short. Would you like to speak with Loki privately?"

"No." Frigga said into the silence that had fallen. "No that would not be good for anyone I believe. I merely wished to see my daughter happy and I now know that she is." she turned to Loki who smiled back at her. "Look." Frigga sighed cradling Loki's face in her hand. "I haven't seen you smile like that since you were a child. You are very happy here aren't you, darling?"

Loki nodded. "Yes mother. More than you will ever know."

"Good. You chose well." she added nodding to Thranduil who was again checking Thínor's vitals. "You have achieved more than I ever dreamed of…your children are beautiful."

Legolas blushed along with his mother who smiled a little wetly. "Thank you." she looked out a window to the sun which had moved across the sky surprisingly quickly. The time had passed so fast. "As much as I may wish you could stay a little longer, our time is running short." she turned to Odin. "I thank you for taking me into your home and family but perhaps you should have left me on Jotunheim. Whether I was abandoned or simply hidden was none of your concern and my own fate." Odin looked poised to anger but deflated swiftly enough, staring at her for several seconds. He nodded eventually and smiled a little sadly.

"I thank you, mother, for your love and for accepting a Jotun runt as your own daughter and raising me to be the woman I am today. Thank you. For everything." Frigga smiled sadly, not even pretending there were no tears in her eyes.

Loki then turned to Thor who waited for his own farewell with a small sad smile. "Thor. You were the best brother that I could have asked for. Granted I hated you at times but your heart was always in the right place. I wish you all the luck in the world."

"And the same to you, little sister."

Loki smiled beautifully at them before she stood gracefully and gathered up her book and several other sheafs of paper. "I have a meeting scheduled with the Captain of the Guard now. I need her reports before I go to Lothlorien next week." she smiled again to her old family but made no move to farewell them any further. "Goodbye." she lay a hand on her youngest's head, murmuring to her children in elvish before she kissed Thranduil and left the room. Her steps could be heard in the halls for at least a minute before they were no longer discernable from the sounds of the forest around them.

Loki walked from the room and thus their lives without a backwards glance. Legolas also stood after a glance from his father who nodded. "I shall show you back to the portal." he announced. "Nana believes that at least six months of your time will have passed by now." Thor stood followed by Frigga and Odin and then Thranduil whose regal form could not be ignored. He nodded and dismissed them formally as they left the room in the wake of his youngest son.

Thor supposed that was only to be expected. Royal or not they were visiting another realm, another universe and not one where they were particularly welcome, Queen's family or no. "What is wrong with Thínor?" Frigga asked, lengthening her steps to walk alongside the young elf.

"He was bitten by three spiders." Legolas replied, worry sparkling in his strange ever-changing eyes. "He reacted badly to the venom and it is taking a while for him to recover."

Frigga looped her arm through his and smiled at his dumbfounded expression at the act. "How old are you, dear one? You are my youngest grandchild are you not?"

"I am nearing six hundred years." Legolas revealed. "Nana was ill while she carried me and it prevented her from having any more children. Ada does not mind for he is happy to still have her with him but I believe Nana is happy to not have a daughter. She said she wouldn't know what to do with a daughter."

Frigga hummed understandingly and patted his arm. "I wish I could have been there while you were growing up, you and your brothers. I have always wished for grandchildren."

Legolas looked a little uncomfortable. "It feels almost as though I know you already, Nana has told me so many stories." he cleared his throat. "It is somewhat disconcerting to meet you now."

"I am sorry that is so." Frigga sighed as they left the gates of the kingdom and entered the forest.

"Nana was happy to see you." Legolas offered kindly when no one spoke again, turning to see his grandfather and uncle. "She may not have shown it very well but she was glad of your presence."

"That is good news, nephew. I hope that Loki can find some closure now that she has spoken with us all honestly."

Odin didn't speak but nodded shortly. The portal site was now visibly beginning to degrade, the edges fraying into greens and yellows of violently poisonous shades. The grove of trees had grown and the x that Sif had slashed into the trees were only visible by a faint mark, paler that the rest of the tree even with the healing magic Loki had poured into them. "It may be best of you leave soon." Legolas advised, eyeing the spell work cautiously. "That looks rather volatile."

Frigga nodded, tears beginning to brim her blue eyes once more but she pushed them back, framing Legolas's young face in her hands and pressing a kiss to his brow. "I am very glad to have met you." she whispered. "I see great things for your future." Legolas smiled and allowed her to smooth the braids that framed his temples without complaint. "Farewell." she murmured and Legolas returned the statement before Frigga stepped through the portal.

Odin stepped up to it next. His mouth opened as though to speak but thought better of it, clapping a hand onto Legolas's shoulder instead. He vanished without another word. Thor frowned after his father but pulled his youngest nephew into a tight hug holding him by the shoulders when they separated and staring at him intently. "If you find yourself in need of anything, anything at all, you come and fine me ok? If you are as much like Loki as I believe you are you will be at least sensitive or gifted in the magic Loki uses. She or you should be able to get to us if need be. Do not hesitate, I implore you."

Legolas watched him carefully but then nodded in agreement. "Very well. I promise to contact you if I can and if the situation is dire." Thor could see numerous loopholes in that statement but decided not to argue the point given the familiar gleam in Legolas's eyes. "I wish you well." Thor said gently.

"To you as well." Legolas replied with a smile and the view was shockingly similar to the last time Thor had stepped through this very portal. Legolas looked shockingly like Loki barring his father's hair and his unique eyes and it tugged at Thor's heart to see his young nephew standing alone in that copse of trees almost a mirror image to how Loki had farewelled him a week and five hundred years ago. There was no coming back from this, Thor knew. He doubted that he would hear from Loki or her children ever again.

Legolas may pass on the message to his family but the chances of them actually taking his offer were next to none. He was however glad that they had managed to part with Loki and her family on good terms without any fighting or ill will. It was testament to how Loki had grown in her time in this other realm and how much she had truly been missed in their small family.

Arriving back on his own side of the portal and watching it fizzle into nothing it really, _truly_ hit Thor that Loki was gone. Forever. Forever on the other side of that vanished portal with her family and her kingdom and her new life where she would live out the remainder of her days in what would seem like nothing to Thor. Even if, by curse or luck, they did meet again Loki would not be the girl he had grown up with or the woman who leapt from the Bifrost. She would not even be the Queen and mother he had just farewelled. She would be someone new, someone tempered by new experiences and time. His sister was gone and there was no getting her back.


End file.
